A Dash of Pepper
by Doodle-tan
Summary: Reuploaded and revised for your reading pleasure. "When Gakupo becomes friends with the class outcast, he receives more than he bargained for... and then some. He follows the path of Miku, his self-destructive fellow classmate, and finds himself unwillingly sucked into her world." Rated M for self-harm, dialogue regarding suicide, strong language, and brief almost-smut.
1. Prologue

**_This fic has been revised, reuploaded, and is already finished as I type this, and this fic will update frequently until it is complete. The earlier version of this fanfiction was not written to my liking and did not give off the mood I had wanted it to portray, and so has been altered. Some Author's Notes have been left as they were when I uploaded the original fic. _**

**_Ahead, there is self-harm, dialogue about suicide, strong language, and smut (third base, though- is that what kids call it these days?) Enjoy "A Dash of Pepper" how I had initially wanted to write it._**

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading!_

_If you read a lot of my stories, you know how I like to write sad, angst-y stuff. This is probably going to be one of those things._

_There is hinted GakupoxMiku. I know that's not a popular pairing, hear me out, but I didn't want it to be a normal story. I really want it to connect and apply my headcanon personalities while still sustaining a logical, intimate relationship between a pair of struggling teens. This isn't so much of "KAITOXMIKU FOREVER LOLOLOL" as it is me wanting to tell a story._

_So I hope you stick around to enjoy "A Dash of Pepper"! Eil-tan out!_

* * *

My grandfather used to tell me, "Life is short, so live it while you can." He was a wise person, and I always listened to what he had to say.

As a kid, I never had any clear memories of my parents. My mom died when I was born, so I never had a clear picture of what she was like or how she looked. Furious and heartbroken, my father gave me up to his father, just days after my birthday. He left shortly after, barely a word spoken through the exchange. As angry as he was with his son, my grandfather, a man full of knowledge, took me in without regret or thought. He was surely a better father than his son. He had already raised two children; what would make it impossible to raise a third?

I didn't hate him for taking me in without begging my father to keep me and raise me like any other father. I dreaded the thought of being raised by my father. I now consider my father's decision a blessing. My grandfather is a benign, easy-going man, and unlike most grandparents, isn't finicky or strict. Life is great here at home with my grandpa. I wouldn't want to have it any other way.

I have a group of friends at school as well. They're all honest, tenacious people. I get A's, study hard, and pass all my tests. School life is alright.

I live the life of an average kid, with the exception of my family, of course. But I don't let that bother me.

One thing I'll never forget that my grandfather told me was "Don't run to judge people." He always told me to never judge people by appearances and to judge on both the first and second impression. Since I was a kid, that lesson has always been branded into my mind.

I remembered the lesson for years, but it had never applied so well until I met her.

* * *

The thought of moving up to tenth grade disgusts me, somehow. It's my second year in high school, and I prayed for days, hoping I could handle it. I'd kill myself before I gave my homeroom teacher a bad first impression or got failing grades, which was a mistake I had made countless times before. I didn't expect it to happen this year, really, but I was becoming increasingly paranoid. I had a tendency to put my homework and studying off until the last second, as well, and this year I refused to let my bad habit of procrastination get to me.

"Can you believe it, Gakupo?" My childhood friend, Kaito, shouted, playfully punching me in the shoulder from behind. His physical attitude irked me, and I didn't respond, just to spite him. "Lily, Rin, and Len are in our homeroom! All five of us!" He skipped along by my side, and I found it strange that he was so enthusiastic about returning to school.

"Don't forget Oliver…" I sighed, scrolling down the list of names to find our other friends in the remaining classes with my finger as a placeholder. "Crap, Gumi's in 2-C… And Luka… And Miki…" As if it couldn't get any worse.

"Why so many girls in that class?" Kaito groaned, slyly grinning. "Our class needs more chicks."

I frowned at him, disappointed in his tacky remarks when the year had only just begun, but then turned my focus back to the lists as he did. He seemed so cheerful, even when he was upset. Maybe I was the only one with such a sour attitude. Or maybe it was the god-awful orientation the school principal stretched out for us in the span of two hours that I had just recently escaped from. "Hey…" I motioned hesitantly for his attention, "who's this 'Miku' girl?"

"Oh…" He perked up a bit at the sound of a new name, "probably some transfer student. Maybe she's new." When he said "new", I had a feeling that what he meant was "hot".

I blinked. "Maybe."

* * *

I stood in front of the classroom 2-B, my schedule pointing the way to my homeroom. I was still trying to remember who was in my class this year, but of course, I have the memory of an infant goldfish, and I couldn't remember, for the life of me, anything from the orientation assembly or the schedule exchanges between my friends… God help me.

I, attempting to be as silent as possible, opened the classroom door, popping my head through first to look inside. I found Lily and Len, so all was okay. As long as there were a few students in my class that I already knew, I was sure to be fine. I stepped through the threshold of the connecting hallway and classroom, feeling a sense of security.

"Oh, Gakupo!" Len cried from across the room, waving to catch my attention. He was sitting in the second row, third seat. Lily was to his left, turning abruptly as she heard my name called out.

"Gakkun!" Lily followed, leaping out from behind her desk. The brief sense of security disappeared.

"Lily, I hate that nickname with a burning passion. We've been over this. Stop calling me by it."

"Oh, whatever," She waved it off, chuckling. Very predictable. "Aren't you excited to be in the same class as me?!"

"Yeah, what are the odds?" I grinned, trying to throw the previous conversation behind me.

"This year's gonna be great!" Len cheered, throwing both hands into the air. His enthusiasm was contagious. "Rin will be here soon, too! She just left for the restroom…" He pointed somewhat to the door before dropping his hand.

"I thought I saw her in the hallway," I noted, which was true. The hallways were always crowded and some students looked the same, so you could never be sure.

"Was Kaito disappointed in the lack of girls, Gakkun?" Lily asked, smiling jokingly up at me.

"You know him too well, Lily," I laughed. "I wouldn't say stuff like that around him; you'd shatter his ego."

The door on the opposite side of the class audibly swung open.

"Speaking of, I wonder where Kaito and Oliver are… They're in this class too, y'know—"

As if on cue, the entire class that had gathered so far became hushed. I looked up to see the new visitor, realizing as I did so that I was becoming part of that painfully-silent crowd of onlookers. If I hadn't known any better, I would have thought it was planned, and I had just gone along with the ride. All focus was shifted to the front of the room, specifically to the classroom door opposite of the door I came in. I was glad to find it wasn't one of my friends standing in the doorway, but I instantly regretted feeling that way. Lily and Len watched the door closely, and part of me wanted to urge them to look away.

There stood a girl, most likely fifteen, in our school's traditional uniform. It was normal and bland like the rest, so at first, I didn't understand the speechless hype. I realized only seconds after that some people were whispering to each other, a few were turned away, and the rest were either dazzled or confused by the attention. I wasn't too sure about the circumstances, but Lily seemed awfully surprised… almost terrified, in a way.

I leaned towards Lily, refusing to turn away. "Any idea what's going on, Lily?"

"Kind of," Lily mumbled under her breath, leaning towards me a bit but not shifting her eye contact from the floor, where she seemed to have averted her eyes from the new guest. She spoke in a murmur, disguising her speech as if she wasn't talking at all. "She's new. She's supposed to be like a loner or something. Really dangerous, too."

When she spoke about that girl in such a way, it angered me a bit. "You can't just believe gossip like that, Lily. You'll make her nervous." I spoke in a harsh whisper. "Who's to say she's a loner? Maybe all she wants is some friends." Lily glared at me, and the temper in her eyes shocked me. I retaliated, "We don't even know her, Lily!"

But as I snuck a glance at the girl, she didn't appear to be too nervous. She had narrow, sharp eyes and thin, sealed lips. It felt like with every glance, she had every thin line and detail of every person and angle embedded into the back of her skull. She had blue pigtails that hung down to her waist in thin, split strands. Her hair looked almost… greasy. Unwashed. The more I looked at her, the more I believed that "loner" was the right category for her. Her skin was pale and she looked almost too thin to stand, and it shocked me.

I soon realized she had been glaring at me for quite some time, and, horribly embarrassed, I turned away. After a few seconds of staring down and waiting, I looked up to find she was asking the teacher for her seat number. The class grew louder, but even so, you could tell that even after only seconds everyone was talking about the new girl.

"Oh, that's right, Gakupo…" Len looked up from his previous stare-down with the ground. "Your desk number is 24."

"It is?" I turned to face him, discouraged by the information. "But yours is 2…"

"Yeah... I know…" He massaged the back of his neck awkwardly. I sighed. His gestures should've rubbed off as him being upset because of the distance, but something told me he knew I had been staring at the transfer student for far too long.

I tried to ignore the thought. I wondered if I'd even get the chance to sit near my friends this year if even for a few weeks. It didn't surprise me, really, that I had been separated from my friends. It happened nine out of ten times if not always.

Lily and Len silently returned to their desks, and as they did so I chose to weakly do the same. Mine was the second desk from the back, fifth row. As upset as I was about not being near Lily or Len, I was pretty pleased with being placed in the back. Spit balls and paper airplanes are a joy, even in high school. I draped my uniform leather briefcase over the wooden surface of the desk and proceeded to empty the bag of textbooks and supplies. As I was stowing away my Algebra textbook, the new girl began parading over to me. I hardly noticed the stiff swish of her long hair.

I continued to stow away my textbooks, pretending not to notice her approach.

"Excuse me," her voice mumbled. I nearly jumped away of my desk in fright, but I was reduced to goosebumps. The sound of her voice dug into my skull, and I found it hard to believe such a voice could come out of a girl with such an appearance. And for a moment, I found her voice sadly sweet. Only for a moment.

I looked up to find the girl standing next to the desk that had been positioned in front of me. She looked down on me, although she was shorter by a handful. She had a dark, piercing gaze. I pondered the thought of her smiling, but with such a frightening expression frozen in place, I couldn't piece it together from my thoughts to her face.

"Is this desk 23?"

"Huh?" Incredible. You've already screwed up one first impression of the year, and you've barely said two words to this girl.

Her frown deepened, and I never would have thought faces worked like that. "Is this seat desk 23?" She asked in a quieter but coarser tone, resting her left hand on the empty desk in front of me.

I was flustered. "Yeah… I mean… It should be, I guess."

Without a word, she sat down in the vacant seat, dropping her bag on the top of the desk and shutting her eyes as if she were exhausted... or irritated. Probably both.

Wow. And before class had even started, you've dug yourself into a deep hole, never to return.

Great.


	2. A Cup of Sugar

_A/N: This was one of my favorite chapters to write at the time I wrote it. I hope you enjoy the second chapter of "A Dash of Pepper"!_

_Eil-tan out!_

* * *

"Man, that chick was a _creep!_ I couldn't believe how she was acting towards you!"

As Kaito, Lily, and I were leaving the school grounds, I still couldn't comprehend the immensely pathetic feeling that the words Kaito said gave me. Honestly, I'd never been able to quite comprehend the things he has said in full, but I wish I could, because if I could fully comprehend some of those things, I'm sure they would be comedy gold.

"Kaito, she could be insecure," I scolded him, shaking my head. "Maybe even socially awkward. Try talking to her first or get to know her before you go and assume negative things like that."

"Aw, Gakkun," Lily cooed, "you're such a sweetie."

"Ah, you know what I mean, Gakupo," Kaito shrugged us off. "She just has the appearance of a cold, distant person, y'know? It's kinda like she's unapproachable. Like… If you touched her, she'd break your arm."

Lily giggled to herself, muffling her laughter just a bit. Kaito seemed pleased with himself for having taken Lily's side by his own accord.

"Maybe we should invite her to hang out this weekend or something." I turned to the two to my left. Kaito rolled his eyes. "It could be worth a try. You never know… she could be a really down-to-earth, interesting person…"

"Or a murderer." Lily added with a small laugh.

"Don't be mean. Murderers are very interesting people." Kaito switched his tone in a heartbeat. "I have better things to do than hang out with her."

"Ouch," Lily remarked. "Tell you what, Gakkun."

"Stop saying Gakkun, for god's sake." Kaito groaned with disgust. I acknowledged him with a nod.

"Maybe we can go to that new café that opened up outside our neighborhood and invite her." Lily pressed her palms together, completely ignoring us. "I've wanted to go there since it opened!" She lowered her hands, grabbing the hem of her skirt. "And you may have a point. About her being down-to-earth or whatever the hell it was."

"Oh my god, Lily, _please."_ Kaito groaned.

"Maybe we could be friends with her… maybe she's not weird like everyone has been saying."

"Would this Saturday work?" I wondered, contemplating the date. Kaito retorted by stomping his feet angrily and grunting.

As much as she did seem very distant and mean, she was mysterious. Almost alluring, somehow. It made me want to know what she was really like.

"Why not? Saturday sounds fine," Lily agreed.

"But who's going to invite her?" Kaito inquired.

Everyone looked around the group, expecting an answer from one or the other.

"I guess I'll do it…" I volunteered after a long period of silence, pulling my hair behind my ear. We began turning the corner off the campus grounds, strolling along the sidewalk on our usual route home. "Besides, she sits in front of me in class."

"Alright, then I suppose we've got that covered," Lily said. "And stop pouting, Gakkun." I didn't know I had been. "You're the one who volunteered."

* * *

How was I supposed to begin asking her? "Have anything to do Saturday?" was too indirect. "Wanna hang out Saturday?" was too cliché... "My friends and I are going to a nearby café this Saturday. Want to come?" was… well. It sounded like I was forcing the decision onto her, not to mention it was a needleslly-longer way to ask "Want to go to a café?", but it seemed like the best choice right now. I scribbled the note down on a rugged piece of paper torn off of a previous worksheet.

Alerting Miku, who had been studying silently (as always) in front of me, I poked her shoulder to grab her attention. I held the note in one hand, praying that the teacher wouldn't catch me passing notes. I wanted to be nice to her, but I didn't want to be caught dead talking to her, let alone literally asking her out. Miku turned her head to the right a little, as if to question why I was doing. I thrust the note forward a bit so she could see it out of her peripheral vision. After a moment of hesitation, she gingerly took it from my hand and flattened it on her desk. Unfolding it, she leaned over the letter and tried to read my awful handwriting.

After about a moment of silence from her desk, I heard the soft squeaks of her mechanical pencil. It dragged on too long… longer than I wanted it to. After almost ten seconds of writing her response, she handed the sliver back, hiding it from the teacher as efficiently as she could. I took it from her hastily.

I unfolded the note to read its newly-added reply.

_What's in it for me?_

What's in it for _you?_ Possibly some physical friends, maybe? A social life? Not with that attitude, though. Christ.

"Free food, I guess." I scribed. I nudged her again, and she took it once more. She didn't wait as long this time to write her answer.

Be the better person, Gakupo.

_Yeah, okay._

I may have won the battle today, but there's no way to tell whether or not I will win the war.

* * *

"She's actually coming…?" Lily gasped, her mouth hanging open in shock. We stood in front of the café, and usually I would've urged her to be quieter in such a setting, but no one was around. It was as if the world had willed everything to be vacant to make way for Miku. "I can't believe it, Gakkun! How did you convince her? There was no way she agreed without a fight!" She grabbed my hands, urging for a juicy story.

"There's no trick, really!" I pulled my hands away from Lilly and into the air, smiling cheekily. "I just asked her and she agreed to come." It was a partial lie, but who cares about details? The technicalities weren't important to her.

"I still can't believe she just agreed to come…" Lily sighed, shutting her eyes in disbelief. "There's no way a girl like that would willingly hang out with strangers. She has to be suspicious of us. I bet she thinks we're going to kill her."

"She probably things we'll eat her liver or something. I'd be pretty suspicious, too."

"That's gross." Lily gagged. I only laughed. "Did she say when she was supposed to come?"

"She should be here any—" As I tried to finish my sentence, Lily gripped my shoulder and tried to spin me around. I fumbled before facing the vacant crossroad.

"She's here…" Lily murmured. She still couldn't believe Miku was joining us without being forced to come.

Sure enough, there she was crossing the street.

She was wearing a short-sleeved gray t-shirt with what appeared to be a music score running across it. She had countless yellow and silver bangle bracelets stretching almost halfway up her forearm, and I didn't want to think she wore them often. Her white jeans were skin tight, and her sandals were a vivid yellow. Not blinding, but on the edge of "God I need better sunglasses". It was strange for her to wear such a color in contrast with her initial attitude, but what struck me more was her hair. She had it all pulled back into a ponytail instead of in two separate parts. I wasn't used to it, seeing how I had only seen it up in pigtails for the five short days I had known her.

"Hello," Miku murmured, her gaze fixed on the concrete. "I hope I'm not late." She was awfully talkative today. Although it had seemed impossible before, her pale cheeks held some noticeable color.

"You're right on time," I affirmed, trying to be friendly so she could relax somehow. It was painfully obvious that she was anxious, and I felt bad for dragging her along, even though the date had been fixed entirely around her.

"Hi, Miku!" Lily chimed cheerfully, stretching out her hand towards Miku. Miku just barely noticed her and lifted her own hand to shake Lily's. "I'm Lily. It's nice to meet'cha."

"Likewise." I honestly hadn't heard someone say "likewise" in a while. Since Kaito's mother's remarriage, where I met one of Kaito's family friends. It was a much similar situation to this, in the sense that it was painfully stressful and no one really wanted to be there.

"I guess we should go in." I said. The two girls nodded to each other, ending their greetings.

"Alright, let's go!" Lily agreed, turning towards me.

* * *

Miku still looked fidgety and cold behind her menu, even if you couldn't see her face. I wasn't quite used to being around her yet, but even though she had still kept herself somewhat closed off, she was opening up very, _very _slowly.

"Are you ready to order?" Our waitress asked, standing on the outside of our open table. She was rather tall, and her jet-black, silky hair was pulled back into a tight bun.

"I am!" Lily cried, peeking over the edge of her tall, open menu to find the waitress.

Miku nodded to indicate she was ready, but she remained buried in the menu.

"I guess I am too, then…" I added, turning towards Lily as I shut my menu. "Lily, you can start."

I just happened to notice Miku, out of the corner of my eye, follow me by resting her menu on the table.

"Um…" Lily began, "I'll have a small slice of blueberry cheesecake, please!"

"And what would you like to drink?" The waitress asked, scribbling over the writing pad in her hand.

"Hot chocolate." On a late summer day, nonetheless.

"I'll have tiramisu, then, please." I requested, glancing up at our server who was writing down our orders on her notebook. "And water, I guess."

"Alrighty! And how about you, miss?" She turned her head to Miku, who, of course, had her head tilting down towards the table. At the sound of the waitress talking to her, she jumped slightly, looking up at the server. Compared to our waitress, she was pitifully smaller.

"Ah, I'll have an orange cake slice with a butter cookie dish… and some lemon-lime soda, please." All of that? She sure ate a lot. But, I guess, if you're able to eat so much and stay that thin, you should take advantage of such an opportunity.

"Anything else?" The server asked.

"Maybe a bowl of fruit, too."

"Alright," She confirmed, writing down the last of the orders. She didn't seem the least bit phased. "I'll have that out here in a few minutes!"

"Thanks," I nodded to her. She quickly took up our menus and darted back to the kitchen, her writing pad in hand.

"Can you finish all that?" Lily asked Miku suddenly. Ugh, come _on_, Lily. "I'd never be able to, as much as I would want to." You're digging your own grave!

"Yeah, of course," Miku replied with strange confidence. She turned to Lily who was sitting just to the right of her. "It's delicious."

"Wow!" She gaped. "I'll probably barely finish my blueberry cheesecake… Then again, I never have the stomach for much."

"You got a small cake…" Miku added, a bit surprised. Lily, you airhead.

"Oh, I did, didn't I?" Lily laughed. Lily was always too skinny for my liking. I used to give her half my food every day when we ate lunch together.

A faint smile appeared on Miku's face, but it vanished as quickly as it came.

* * *

"That was delicious!" Lily cried, slapping her hand on her flat stomach. "That cheesecake was huge for a 'small' size."

"Agreed…" I sighed, leaning back in my chair.

The three of us were quiet as Miku swallowed the last bit of her butter cookie. Lily threw out her arms to stretch. The whole eating process always tired her out. She accidentally hit someone behind her in the head. She turned to apologize quickly before turning back to me.

"Oh gosh, Gakkun, what time is it? Do you know?"

"Um, let me check…" I raised my wrist to check my watch, and I read it off. "It's 3:30 … Why?"

"No kidding! It's already that late?" Lily suddenly jumped up from her seat and slammed her hands down on the table. The strength in her hands slamming against it shook the crumb-coated plates still left on the table… not to mention it scared the hell out of Miku, who nearly jumped out of her copious number of bracelets. A few people turned to look at us, and Miku turned bright red.

"I have to go to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner… I'm so sorry, Gakkun." She hopped up from her seat at the table and rammed the chair against the edge. "I'll call you later, okay? I'm really sorry I have to leave so early…" She retrieved her purse from the corner of her chair, turning to leave. "I'm so, so sorry! I'll pay for the next meal! Bye guys!"

And in seconds, she was gone, leaving Miku and I to sit painfully and silently together at the table.

"Bummer," I sighed, leaning my crossed arms against the table. Miku rested her head in her left hand as she gazed out the café window, pretending not to hear.

"Here's your bill, sir," Our server rested our check face-down on the table as she took our empty plates with a smile. I nodded a faint "thanks" to her as she marched away. As I opened the bill, I braced myself for the worst. But as I read its contents, it was really not as bad as I had expected, considering how much we had asked for.

"I hope I didn't spend too much money…" Miku suddenly noted, dropping her hand from her face.

"Oh…" I looked up at her from the bill, a bit alarmed. "Honestly… you didn't get a lot. I can show you if you want."

"No, you don't have to do that," She sighed, waving it off and returning her gaze to the window.

"Right," I mumbled, signing the bottom of the receipt silently. I slipped a twenty in the leather bill, setting it upright on the table. That should cover everything. I left the rest for tips. "We can go now if you want. I'm ready to leave if you are…" I coughed.

Miku looked up at me as I stood from the table. She removed her hand from her face and pushed herself away from the table, swinging her purse over her left shoulder. "I need to stop by the bookstore grab a few books, anyway."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah." Miku glanced to the side slightly to avoid eye contact. "… want to come?"

"Do I want to come…?" I glanced at her partially hidden face, a bit shocked that she asked ME of all people. "Um—"

"You don't have to… I mean…" She looked up at me, somehow alarmed. Honestly… she was kinda cute. Flustered, but cute. "No, I mean, it was dumb to ask… I… uh…" She stumbled over her words, and I took the opportunity.

"No… I'd… I'd love to."

She stared at me, wide-eyed. "No, really, I—"

"It's just down the road. I don't mind." I was tempted to hold out a hand, but I didn't. "Plus, it could be dangerous for you to walk around town alone, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, y'know?"

"You… you…" she looked around, stunned, trying to find the right thing to say. Caught up in some kind of internal shock, she spun around, turned back to me suspiciously, and led me down the road.

* * *

As we walked through the store, it seemed like she knew exactly where she was going. I followed slowly behind as she made her way straight to the back of the store. Without a word exchanged, we paraded across the entire store, reaching the section she had been charging for. I was awestruck in a way, finding that she knew the store like the back of her hand.

The sign above the stocked aisles of bookshelves accurately labeled the category of books. "Romance". I didn't know she was into that sort of genre. She wasn't really the kind of person you'd portray as a fan of romance books, to be quite honest.

"You like romantic stories?" I asked suddenly, trying to start a sort of conversation. Miku was startled a bit, but turned to answer me anyway.

"They're fun to read… or, at least, that's what I think." She replied tensely, a book already resting in her left hand.

"Erotica, then?" I joked.

She didn't take it quite as lightly. "Uh… um... no." Clearly, Kaito was getting to my head.

I didn't really know what to say at that point, seeing as I had already screwed myself over. She was retrieving books left and right. She didn't even stop to read the spines or back covers. She probably didn't need my commentary to begin with, anyway.

"You already know what you're buying?" I questioned. Not needing my commentary didn't mean that I wouldn't talk.

"Yeah." She replied blandly.

"Did you make a list or something?" I followed up. Miku froze in her tracks, mid-pull. The book under her fingertips was tilted slightly, half-wedged between other novella.

"I guess not, no." She continued her search, retrieving fifteen books in the span of a minute.

"Help me with this," She requested, handing me a pile of six books. I took them without delay. Having only seen their true size from a distance, they were oddly heavy. She handed me another pile. This time, I was given four. I felt revoltingly mushy just holding them.

"Alright, I'm done here." Miku sighed, hiking up the stack of books by jumping to find a more secure grip at the bottom of the pile.

As we walked to the register, she was clearly struggling to carry the towering stack. At any moment it was going to topple over. Without stopping to think, I took five books from her pile of about twenty books and added it on to my pile of ten.

She looked over at my stack, caught a bit off guard. "T-thanks…" she sputtered, peeking around her tower of books as she continued walking.

"No problem," I replied, hushed so not to disturb anyone around us.

As enthusiastic as I was about the idea of getting on good terms with Miku, something told me she was still not completely comfortable with the idea of us being friends. And something deep down questioned why I would ever want to even _associate _with her.

I kept asking myself, "What is there to like? She's a loner like everyone says. She's an outcast. She's as awkward as awkward gets." I only thought those things, though, because that's what my society had told me was true, and that's what my first impression had been of her.

The truth is, everyone had been so terribly wrong about her from the moment I said her name.


	3. A Pinch of Salt

_A/N: Pay attention, boys and girls. Thanks for coming so far and keeping up!_

_Eil-tan out!_

* * *

"So how did the rest of the date go?" Lily asked, leaning against my desk. Miku still hadn't arrived to class, so, as I could've predicted, Lily didn't hesitate to ask me a thing.

"What's this?" Oliver gasped, exaggerating his surprise. Lily rolled her eyes. "Our amazing Gakkun has a girlfriend already? What a pimp."

"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head, Oliver," Lily sighed, waving her hand back and forth in front of Oliver's face, creating an invisible barrier between him and us. "It's none of your business."

"Ah, whatever," He groaned. "You're no fun!" Oliver began to trudge back to his desk at the front of my row.

"You can't call it a date," I replied, a bit late, "but we went to the bookstore. She's really nice. Maybe shy, but she's cool."

"Oh, _man,_ Gakkun!" Lily shouted, grinning from ear to ear as she shook my shoulders playfully. She turned red with excitement. "You're so dense! What don't you understand?"

"God, what are you yelling about, Lily?!" I asked her, my voice wavering as she shook me.

"She totally has the hots for you, dude!" She laughed, finally releasing me. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed!"

"You know that's _kind of_ impossible, right?" Oliver joined in once again. Lily put her head in her hands at the sound of Oliver's voice. "No one 'has the hots' for Gakkun. He's Gakkun. What don't you understand about that?"

Lily stood up calmly, grabbing Oliver's shirt collar with a gentle tug. "Listen, you little shit. If you don't get your pathetic ass back to your tight plastic seat, I will _make _you understand."

Oliver returned to his seat.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, changing our subject back to what it had been. I found it hard to believe what she was saying, but it sure was interesting.

"You needed to know, of course!" Lily replied, almost appalled that I hadn't even thought of such a thing. "I can't believe you didn't figure it out on your own. You guys are like soulmates!"

"Stop messing with me, Lily…" I groaned, flipping open a textbook I had set on my desk earlier that morning.

"I'm not messing with you, though—" But before she could finish, Miku entered the room. Lily continued in a softer tone. "I'll talk to you later." And with a questionable twist of glee, she skipped off. Unfazed by Lily's visit, Miku sat in her assigned desk, sliding her handbag across the hard surface. I could just slightly see something white wrapped around her wrist. It looked like she was wearing a bracelet or bandage under her long sleeves, and I debated myself whether or not to ask her about it, but what was the point? It was best to mind my own business. We weren't_ best_ friends yet.

* * *

"Do you want to hang out again sometime?" I asked her on our way up to school. Our paths merged, so I decided to walk with her. "I was thinking of going to the park tomorrow."

"The park?" She tried to absorb the question.

"Yeah, why not."

"It sounds great, but…" Her voice faded. She had the habit of not finishing her sentences.

"But what?"

"Do you remember all those books we bought last weekend?" She asked, turning her head to me.

"Of course." A trio of girls whispered (very noticeably) behind us, but I ignored them.

"I was thinking of finishing them Saturday," She mumbled. "And I never really care to go outside in my leisure time."

I laughed. "Yeah, I can understand that." Miku stared at her shoes, embarrassed. I could understand how she would think it was the wrong thing to say, but I would agree. We trudged up the steep path that ran straight to the campus, conversing quietly to ourselves. At least she was opening herself up a little…

"Do you think…? I don't know..." Miku stuttered, speaking softly as if she didn't want to speak at all, "you would like to… come over and hang out?"

"Come over?" I shouted, obviously a bit too loud. I tripped over my own feet and scraped my knee through my pants as I collided with the concrete sidewalk.

Miku stepped forward, helping me up as I brushed off the dust on my blazer. The girls behind us howled with laughter. "I didn't mean to make you trip…"

"It wasn't your fault," I coughed, leaning over. I nearly lost my balance as I tried to stand steady, but I caught myself with Miku's help. "I just wasn't paying attention." I stood up straight, cracking my back before continuing on. It took Miku a few seconds before she could gather what had happened and continue normally. When she snapped back to reality, she continued walking, going quickly to keep up with me. I noticed and slowed down for her. "You were saying?"

"Oh, r-right," She seemed to be deep in thought before looking up at me. "Haha, what were we talking about again?" She smiled nervously up at me. Truthfully, the smile didn't fit her. She was trying too hard.

"I think you invited me to hang out," I reminded her. It almost stung my throat to say that to her, especially because she had probably "forgotten" in order to drop the conversation. She already had enough going on in that mind of hers, and I was probably only making it worse.

"Oh…! Yeah, I need to finish those books I got, but…" she glanced away, "it's boring without someone there to talk to… so I was just… y'know…"

"I'll hang out with you, sure…" I affirmed. "But would you really want me there? I'm not all that fun to talk to."

"Of course I want you there!" She shouted suddenly, and I realized exactly what she was thinking. Her mouth hung open for half a second before she turned away. Her face was cherry red. The things she does to herself are funny, in an adorably ridiculous way.

"Are you sure I won't bother you? You'd probably rather focus on the books you're reading—"

"No!" She blurted. She bit her tongue, and I grinned.

"What time should I come over, then?"

"Uh…" Her mind was overloading, poor thing. "Maybe… 11 o'clock. Unless you sleep in…"

"That's fine, I'm more of a morning person, anyway." I assured her.

* * *

Slowly, I had begun to regret coming to Miku's house. Her house was practically a mansion. It was insane; I'd never seen anything like it! I was beginning to have second thoughts on ringing the doorbell at her front gate, but I couldn't stand her up.

"Thanks for coming, Gakkun…" Miku welcomed me in, a bit red-faced.

"Please tell me you're not going to use that name like everyone else does…" I sighed bitterly, stepping into the house.

"Oh, sorry!" She sighed, "That's just what everyone calls you, so I went with it…"

"Lily made it up to mess with me," I noted. "It seems to be a bad habit for everyone; don't worry about it."

Miku nodded, but she was visibly anxious. I felt bad about it, so I made it a point to help her calm down. It was her own home, after all.

"Anyway," Miku continued, "make yourself at home."

"Thanks," I nodded to her, taking in the interior architecture.

"I'll get us something to eat, if you want anything," Miku offered, walking ahead into the house and towards the kitchen.

"Oh, sure! If you don't mind." As she stepped into the kitchen, I followed closely behind.

Her kitchen was massive. Not that it was unexpected, but I had never seen a kitchen like it before. It was like her house. All the appliances looked like new. Everything was spot-free. It looked like it had been professionally cleaned.

"You can sit down at the bar if you want to…" Miku offered, opening a cabinet over her blender. I nodded a "thanks" to her and walked the perimeter of the kitchen to sit as she pulled a tin of cookies out from the cabinet. I climbed onto a barstool, watching her clean her hands off under an automatic faucet.

"Do you live in such a big house alone?" I asked Miku, trying to entertain her as she gathered snacks. "Like, don't you have any parents that live with you?"

She laughed, and I was honestly refreshed. "Of course not. My father is always away on business, though, so I don't see him often," She replied, organizing cookie after cookie on a porcelain platter. It was kind of pointless, seeing as it was only the two of us, but I wouldn't stop her.

"Do you mind if I ask about your mother, then?"

"Not at all. Her name was Calne. She ran away from my father when I was born and left me behind." She paused her organizing for a moment.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, don't be," She reassured me, and she continued setting up cookies. "I never liked her, though. I'm glad she's gone. It's probably better that she is."

"I never knew my mother or father. My mother died when I was born, and my father left me with my grandfather." I looked down at my hands. I held my fingers intertwined and twiddled my thumbs. "I don't like my father, either. He was a very selfish person."

"I'm sorry!" She shouted, nearly knocking the tin of cookies off the counter.

"Oh, don't be sorry!" I fumbled, looking up at her reassuringly. "I'm the one that brought it up." Miku responded with a shaky sigh. Now I really felt like an ass.

"Want anything to drink?" Miku said abruptly, yanking the refrigerator door whilst turning to me.

"I'm fine, thanks."

She pulled a water bottle out from the sea of food and shelves, kicking the door closed. "There we are," She turned to me, holding up the plate of cookies and the water bottle suggesting that she was done with her task. I hopped off of the bar stool, turning around the outer corner of the bar as Miku trotted away into the wooden-floored hallway. I jogged to catch up and quickly did so.

"My room is upstairs," she noted, hopping up the white, carpeted staircase. I continued to follow her up to her room. "It's dirtier than usual today, so I apologize… I meant to clean it up before you came over but I couldn't clean the house fast enough…"

I was stunned for a moment as I thought about what she said. "Did you clean the entire house by yourself?!" I looked up at the back of her bobbing head, fully realizing for the first time that day that her hair was in pigtails again.

"It was pretty much cleaned to begin with," She giggled, not bothering to turn around. "It usually is. No one really lives here but me, and it's hard for just one person to dirty an entire house…"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

The corridor on the second floor of her house had tremendously white carpet and olive-green painted walls. It was almost like a loft; you could see the entire downstairs from the open hall. I couldn't help but stare at the immense amount of floor space on the first level, furnished perfectly. As we marched down the hallway to her room, my fingers ran against the iron rod railing near the edge of the balcony. I began to notice that all the doors on the upper floor were either a light green or a light yellow. I honestly hadn't expected her to live in such a bright house, considering how she had always appeared to be. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover.

"Here we are," Miku proclaimed, stopping in front of a red door at the very end of the hall. It was a dark-red, wooden door, much different from the others. "Hold this for me." She handed me the chilled water bottle in her left hand, and I took it immediately. After she made sure I had a good grip on the bottle, she clutched the door handle ahead of her and swung the door open. As she did this, I finally saw the room's interior.

The room was dimly lit by the circular ceiling light, with all walls covered by bookshelves. Not just one or two walls, but all of them. The only parts of the room visible were the floor, ceiling, and walls surrounding her built-in bed. Her bed, from my position, appeared to be a queen size. It was built into the wall, which was something I had seen only in magazines. The wall surrounding it was the same olive green as the halls outside, but, in a way, darker. It could have been the poor lighting. The bed had two thick mattresses under it, followed by an enormous, fluffy crimson comforter. So many pillows adorned the bed that you almost couldn't see comforter, had it not been draped down the side.

The floor was dressed with grey carpet. At the center of the room was a round, blood-red rug that nearly took up the entire floor. Two rusty gold beanbags sat side by side, a tall black lamp hovering over each one. In front of them was a low mahogany coffee table, perfect for lounging and eating over.

It was a room that really suited her, that was for sure.

Miku nudged the bedroom door open wider with her hip as she stepped inside. I followed her in, taken aback by the amazing furniture. I wondered if she had furnished it herself, or if her father had laid it out for her. Absorbing the features of the room, I found there was a wooden dresser in the far left corner, stuck in between other bookshelves. It looked as if it was made of the same wood and was as tall as the bookshelves, so it really blended in.

"I can't believe you have this many books…" I stared, mouth agape, at the bookshelves stuffed with novels and stories. "How many of them have you read?"

"Almost all of them…" She informed, setting the platter of cookies on the coffee table as she readied herself to sit in the farthest beanbag. "That's not including the new ones we bought. I tend to buy my books in clusters."

"That's amazing." I tried to take in the immense quantity of books, but it was impossible to believe someone so young could spend so much time reading.

I sat down casually on the beanbag beside Miku. She turned away, grabbing some books she had set to the side. With a firm grip she lifted them from their fixed spot and dropped them on the table in front of her, and they landed with a bang. From just looking, I would have guessed there were almost ten of them she had prepared.

"So, what book are you reading right now?" I asked.

"I'm on this one…" She replied proudly, casually reaching over to display the book at the top of the pile. She flashed the front cover at me. It was a bright yellow book and looked much thinner than all the others. "It's a story about a girl who is sent to a mental institution. She ends up falling in love with this guy there… but that's as far as I've gotten, to be honest." She plopped the light book into her lap, her right palm sandwiched under it. "I'm hoping to finish today…"

"It sounds cool," I replied truthfully. "Can I read it when you finish?"

She looked up from her daze. "Oh, yeah. Of course." She hesitated for a moment, but then smiled awkwardly at me, somehow intimidated. She continued, "Can you close the door while I turn these lamps on?" She placed the book gently on the ground, half-standing, half-spinning to the lamp. She turned the switch of the lamp on as I carefully closed the door. As I watched her run across the room to turn on the second lamp, I recognized the same white bracelet on her operating hand, peeking out from under her sleeve. It didn't resemble a bracelet as much this time.

"Um, Miku?"

"Hm?"

"What's that on your wrist?"

"Oh, this…" She wrapped her left hand around her wrist, staring at it in thought. She hesitated before pulling her sleeve back to reveal a bandage, slightly pink. "I hurt it on Sunday when I was riding my bike. When I fell, I landed awkwardly on it and got this scrape." It was a wide-enough wrap to be a scrape, so I didn't doubt it. It was just the way she presented herself that had me doubtful.

"I was just curious," I affirmed, turning my back to her as I fell onto the beanbag.

"Oh, alright," She nodded, standing and turning to her bookshelf as I sat down in my seat. "Now let me find you a book to read…" We were silent as she looked over her books for a moment.

I heard the removal of a book as it slid out from between others that had been crammed into place. "Here we are!" Before I knew it, a thin book was dangling in front of my face. "This one's about a boy that saves a stray from being put to sleep in a shelter. It's one of my few books that isn't a romance novel, so I thought you'd like it. I'm sure mushy romance novels aren't your thing." I took it from her graciously, holding up the book to absorb the cover's features. I nodded my "thanks" as she daintily sat in the beanbag to my right. This one sounded just as good as anything; I didn't read much, anyway.

"I hope I finish this today," Miku added. Without restraint, she clutched the book in both hands, flipping open the cover. She used her bookmark as support to open the pages to her held spot. Before I could even open the cover of my book, she had already begun reading.

In the back of my mind, something told me to keep asking her about the bandage, but what was the point? It was just a scrape, after all.

That's the standard excuse, and I still can't believe I fell for it.


End file.
